"Colbyt" wrote in
:

Answered inline for clarity


"Crabshell" wrote in message
...
This may be the wrong place to ask this question, but here goes. I
need to
wire the house for cable (TV). This is a peer and beam house with
limited attic space -- an attic install would require a hearty, short
person with a tolerance for blown insulation.

Mostly I was going to use the cat5 for the POTS. I assumed every line had
to run to a central location vs series. Series may be easier/more
efficient. The network can run wireless I'm thinking...

Questions:

1) The cable TV installer said he couldn't do the job under the
house because he needed some sort of right angle drill bit. He said
I should call an electrician. What's that all about?

It is called a lazy installer. Assuming you are putting boxes in the
wall this does require some careful measuring and moderate difficulty
pulling the wire.

2) I figure I should run CAT 5 cable along side the coax at the same
time to be proactive. Can they coexist side by side without
interference?

Coax and cat5 are fine side by side. They can terminate in the same
box. You can even buy face plates that have a cable/ network or phone
jack.

3) Is it cool to run the lines straight under the house from point A
to point B or should they snake around the perimeter, walls and beams
to stay out of the way? (I like to do things the right way if it
doesn't double the cost.)

Direct lines are fine if supported. Along structual members or
perpindicular to joists is the preferred method. Note that all cable
runs should serve only one outlet (called home run) and should run
from the point of entry to the oulet. I actually prefer to run my
phone lines in this manner also but they are frequently ran in a
series (from box to box).

If you are thinking you might want a wired network you should home run
each cat5 box to a central loacation where you can then configure the
wires as you see fit. Note that it not reccommended to use the same
cat5 wire for a data network and POTS. If you are thinking network or
other communication equipment this termination point should not be in
the crawlspace (a closet is good)


4) My house has no ground wires running to fixtures or outlets.
Should this be done at the same time or is that a whole other mess to
deal with later?

That is a whole different ballgame. Do one project at a time.

Thanks in advance,
Crabshell